Persia past and present; a book of travel and research, with more than two hundred illustrations and a map . K i. PRESUMABLE ANCIENT DAKHMAHS ON THE CLIFF 305 The Persians in Achsemenian times, moreover, had not gener-ally adopted the Magian fashion of exposing the dead, butrather buried the body, merely coating it with wax, as a con-cession to the Magi, who followed the strict Zoroastrian lawfor exposing corpses; ^ and it was not until the time of theSasanians that the custom of exposure became universal amongthe orthodox throughout Iran. For that reason, if we are toassign these presumable d
Persia past and present; a book of travel and research, with more than two hundred illustrations and a map . K i. PRESUMABLE ANCIENT DAKHMAHS ON THE CLIFF 305 The Persians in Achsemenian times, moreover, had not gener-ally adopted the Magian fashion of exposing the dead, butrather buried the body, merely coating it with wax, as a con-cession to the Magi, who followed the strict Zoroastrian lawfor exposing corpses; ^ and it was not until the time of theSasanians that the custom of exposure became universal amongthe orthodox throughout Iran. For that reason, if we are toassign these presumable dakhmahs to Achsemenian times, we areentitled, perhaps, to suggest the possibility that they may havebeen first employed by the Magian priests themselves — per-haps to give currency to this tenet of the religion —and thenmay have come into more general use later, especially when thecity of Stakhr was under Sasanian rule. But this is only aconjecture, and the whole subject requires further consideration. On the highest point of the bluff, and just above the sepul-chres, is one other noticeable object. It i
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